Chapter 13 - The Ledger
By noon, the federal investigators had arrived.
Hannah expected hostility.
Instead, Special Agent Naomi Pierce entered the penthouse carrying a laptop and a tired expression.
She was in her forties, sharply dressed, practical, and unimpressed by the Moretti name.
“I’m going to save everyone several hours,” she said. “Mrs. Moretti, I don’t believe you stole charity funds.”
Hannah blinked.
“That was fast.”
“The forged signatures are too perfect.”
Dominic folded his arms.
“Explain.”
“Real signatures vary. Pressure changes. Angles shift. Whoever created these documents copied Hannah’s signatures from digital contracts and duplicated them identically.”
Hannah leaned forward.
“So we’re being framed.”
“Yes.”
“By Adrian?”
Pierce looked toward Dominic.
“That’s what I hoped you could tell me.”
Dominic said nothing.
Agent Pierce opened a file.
“Your father’s name appeared during a federal corruption investigation fourteen years ago. The case disappeared.”
“Because he paid someone.”
“Probably several someones.”
“What does that have to do with Adrian?”
Pierce displayed a photograph of a black leather accounting book.
“This.”
Dominic’s expression changed.
“You recognize it?” Hannah asked.
“My father carried that ledger everywhere.”
“What was inside?”
“I assumed business accounts.”
Pierce shook her head.
“Names. Judges. union officials. police commanders. contractors. politicians. Offshore transfers. Bribes.”
Hannah understood.
“That’s what Adrian took.”
“Possibly,” Pierce said.
Dominic stared at the photograph.
“If Adrian had that ledger, he could have destroyed our father.”
“Or half the city,” Pierce replied.
Luca entered.
“Sir, we found something.”
He placed a map on the conference table.
A GPS tracker had been discovered inside the frame of the wedding photograph from Box Six.
Hannah felt violated in a way that frightened her more than a gun.
“Someone entered our private box and planted that?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“Security footage was deleted.”
Dominic’s voice became deadly quiet.
“Who had access?”
“Harlan. Senior maintenance staff. Two security supervisors.”
“Harlan wouldn’t betray us,” Hannah said.
Dominic looked at her.
“You trust him?”
“He gave me overtime when Mason got hurt. He pretends to be terrified of you, but he’s decent.”
Agent Pierce stood.
“Then somebody used him.”
They traveled to the theater under heavy security.
Harlan met them in the lobby, sweating through his collar.
“Mrs. Moretti, I swear I had nothing—”
“We know,” Hannah said.
“You do?”
“We think someone got into Box Six through staff access.”
Harlan swallowed.
“That’s impossible.”
Dominic stepped closer.
“Impossible things are becoming common.”
They reviewed security logs.
At first, nothing looked unusual.
Then Hannah noticed something.
“Go back.”
The technician rewound.
A maintenance worker entered the second-floor hallway at 3:17 a.m.
He wore a cap.
Carried a toolbox.
And walked with a slight limp.
“Zoom in.”
The image blurred.
Hannah stared.
She had seen that posture before.
Not in person.
In Dominic’s family photographs.
Dominic whispered the name.
“Adrian.”
Luca shook his head.
“Could be someone matching his build.”
Dominic pointed.
“Left shoulder lower than the right. He broke his collarbone playing football at sixteen. It never healed properly.”
Hannah watched the figure disappear into Box Six.
He had entered their sanctuary.
He had stood beside their wedding photograph.
He had planted the phone.
Maybe the envelope.
Maybe everything.
Dominic turned toward Luca.
“Seal the building.”
Agent Pierce stepped between them.
“No.”
“He’s here.”
“He was here three nights ago.”
Dominic’s nostrils flared.
“Then find where he went.”
Harlan hesitated.
“There may be another camera.”
Everyone looked at him.
“The Marlowe was renovated during Prohibition. There are service passages behind the private boxes. We sealed most of them, but preservation rules required us to keep inspection cameras.”
They entered a narrow hidden corridor behind Box Six.
Dust covered the floor.
A tiny preservation camera faced the passage.
The footage loaded.
Adrian appeared clearly.
Older.
Bearded.
Alive.
He removed his cap and looked directly into the camera.
Then he held up a handwritten sign.
DOMINIC, IF YOU’RE WATCHING THIS, DON’T TRUST LUCA.
The room became silent.
Dominic slowly turned.
Luca’s face showed genuine shock.
Then Adrian held up a second sign.
HE KNOWS WHERE THE LEDGER IS.
Dominic stared at the man who had protected him for more than a decade.
“Do you?”
Luca didn’t answer.
Hannah’s pulse accelerated.
“Luca?”
The bodyguard closed his eyes.
“Yes.”
Dominic’s voice dropped.
“Where?”
Luca looked at Hannah.
May you like
Then at Dominic.
“Your brother gave it to me the night he disappeared.”
